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Southern Illinois University Edwardsville senior TJ Baker was named the Ohio Valley Conference Golfer of the Year, SIUE Head Coach Derrick Brown was named Coach of the Year and Brady Kaufmann, Luke Ludwig and Brent Reintjes all earned All-OVC honors as announced Sunday at the league's annual postseason banquet.

Kaufmann and Ludwig joined Baker on the First Team. Reintjes was named to the All-Newcomer team.

The four selections are the most ever for the Cougars.

"To have four guys honored tonight is just fantastic," Brown said. "This entire team has pushed each other all year and that's how you become a great team."

Baker became the first SIUE golfer to earn Player of the Year honors. It is his second First Team selection and the third All-OVC honor in his career. Entering the OVC Tournament, he leads the OVC in scoring average at 70.6, the lowest of his career. He earned five top-five finishes during the season.

"TJ becoming the first player in SIUE Golf history to be OVC Player of the Year is so awesome," Brown added. "He worked so hard this past year to get his game where he knew it could be. He will go down as one of the best golfers in program history."

Kaufmann, a sophomore, earned First Team honors after being selected as the Freshman of the Year and a member of the All-Newcomer team in 2023. He is second in the league in scoring average at 71.0. Kaufmann grabbed four top-10 finishes during the year.

"Brady is such a talented golfer who has a very good head on his shoulders," Brown added. "He never gets rattled. He followed up his Freshman of the Year campaign with an even better year. He is an absolute joy to coach, and I am proud of the year he had."

Ludwig, a fifth-year player, is tied for fourth in scoring at 71.9, which is the lowest of his career. The First Team selection is his first All-OVC award. Ludwig finished fourth at SIUE's Dolenc Invitational.

"I am so proud of Luke for earning All-OVC," Brown said. "He's a 4.0 Mechanical Engineering major and has always handled it well but this year he got some more time to work on his game during his fifth year and really made excellent strides in his game."

Reintjes, a junior transfer, is 21st in scoring averaging entering the tournament. He finished seventh at the Dolenc Invitational.

"Brent has come in from Dodge City CC and had an immediate impact on this team," Brown said. "His work ethic and drive to be perfect is really good. He will be a big part of our team next season with the experience he's gotten this season."

Brown was named Coach of the Year for the second time, after also earning the award in 2019. He guided the Cougars to the title at its own tournament and five other top-five finishes during the year. Going into the Championship, the Cougars had the top scoring average in the OVC at 284.8 which would be the lowest in school history.

"I am honored to be voted Coach of the Year by my colleagues," Brown said. "This team is a lot of fun to coach and they work hard and deserve a lot of the credit. We have had a great year with a couple tournament wins, new program team scoring average record and a new 54 hole tournament record. I'm most definitely honored to be their coach."

SIUE is third with two rounds of stroke play remaining at the OVC Championship. The top four teams then advance to match play.

PHOTO: Athletics graphic of Brown, Kaufmann, Ludwig, Baker, Reintjes